A Really Big Deal

I promised a post describing a realization I had this month that is a Really Big Deal.  Here goes.

Several weeks ago, we received the same advertisement we always receive in September.  Shiny graphics and photos heralded the soon-to-be Homecoming Celebrations for our alma mater, Southeastern University. 

Dear Friends, Deb and Phil Stephens

Frank and I have only attended Homecoming sporadically since moving back to central Florida.  Our calendar is usually filled with family or church events for the same weekend.  While reading the brochure this September, I suddenly had a realization.  Homecoming 2019 would be more significant for me.
Here's the Really Big Deal.  I didn't graduate from college in 2009.  Not in 1999.  Nor in 1989.  I walked across the stage to receive my B.A. in Secondary Education and Bible in the year of our Lord 1979.  FORTY YEARS AGO!! Told ya, really big deal.

Dear Friends, I barely feel forty years old now.  How can it be that I've been out of college for that many decades?  My days of living in Bethany Hall seem too clear to have been that far back in my personal history.  Granted, I did graduate a year early.  But still,  Forty Years?!

Unbelievable!

As I sat shaking my head at the impossibility of it all, I began realizing just how significant the year 1979 was for me.  Graduation from college was only the beginning.

Two weeks after graduation, Frank took me out for a very fancy celebration dinner. He knew the significant mile-stone it was.  I was the first college grad on either side of my family.  I wanted desperately to be a teacher and finally the training was mine.  It was time to celebrate.

We both dressed to the nines and headed for Orlando.  We drove to Disney where he had made reservations for us to dine at The Top of the World restaurant.  It was a dream come true spot.

The restaurant sat atop the famous A-frame hotel which still operates at Disney.  The circular room boasted no exterior walls, only windows making it impossible to miss the twinkling lights below.  Each table had a private waiter wearing a tux and even white gloves.  Mel Torme was crooning love songs as his pianist played along.

For us, two young kids who grew up in more modest settings, the atmosphere was truly magical.  Just as dessert arrived Frank looked at me and said, "Sheri, will you spend the rest of your life with me?  Will you marry me?"

The question startled us both.

Frank really had intended the dinner to simply be in celebration of my graduation.  I had seen how nervous he was and sensed he wanted to say something but had no idea marriage was rolling around in his head.  There was no advance thought. There was no ring.  He just went with the emotion of the moment.

"I'll have to think about that, Frank."  It was my honest reaction.

So, 1979 brought college graduation in April and a marriage proposal in May.  I eventually said yes to the proposal and we determined we would get married the next spring.  Really Big Deal.

In June, I left for the trip I'd been planning since August, 1978.  I was part of a team of student volunteers for a mission in Athens, Greece.  The professor leading our team had been to Europe many times and suggested we go early to experience a few highlights.

Professor James Ferrell who led our team

We landed in Frankfurt, Germany where we rented a car and started driving.  In four days we hit five countries and many of the places one only dreams of visiting.  We then worked for five weeks helping promote missions efforts in Athens and Porto Rafti, Greece.  Really big deal.

The night I arrived home Frank picked me up at the airport and announced, you have an interview with Mr. Friar tomorrow morning.  The principal of the prestigious school where I so longed to teach had contacted Frank.  They were considering me for a position they had in middle school.

At 7AM I donned the least wrinkled outfit in my suitcase and hurried to the school office.  They offered me the position that very afternoon.  So, in August of 1979, I realized the dream that had been in my heart since I was fourteen years old.  I became a teacher.  Really Big Deal.

That same week, my dear friend Tricia and I settled on an apartment to share. I moved into grown-up life full-force with a car payment, insurance, rent and utilities.  Good thing I had a job.  Really Big Deal.

At the end of August, Frank came up with another proposal.  Why should we wait until the following spring to get married?  I had two weeks off for Christmas.  He could easily arrange time off, too.  He wanted to get married in December.

So on December 30, 1979, I donned a lovely white gown and beautiful veil.  I walked down the aisle of a church in Pensacola, FL to stand at the altar with the man of my dreams.  Really, the Biggest Deal of All.

Yep, 1979 was a whirlwind of dreams fulfilled for that twenty-one year old girl.  Actually, we're still living out all the dreams that were launched that year.  And even though my knees are a bit stiffer and my hair is a little thinner and my eye-sight has grown worse, I'm still a grateful girl.

Birthday Lunch in Winter Haven

Thanks for running down memory lane with me today.  Your friendship is a really big deal, too.

Looking Back and Ahead

So, today I'm excited to announce Embrace the Grace crossed a major threshold.

We've now had over half a million views!!  (Definitely merits two exclamation marks!)

While that is a tame number for more experienced bloggers and media personalities, it's definitely encouraging for me.

That means at some point over the past ten years, almost 50,000 people annually have clicked on here to see what's happening in our lives.  Now, I fully understand that probably many of those were accidental visitors.  My husband and girls have stopped by a few thousand times.  And friends are the go-to team for blog reading.  

But I've also had people visit from such far away places as Ukraine, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Fiji and Thailand.  I've always enjoyed traveling in order to share hope, encouragement and Good News.  Who knew I could do that from the comfort of my very own prayer chair located in my dining room beside the big windows looking onto our back yard?  Who knew, indeed!

I remember discreetly asking Amanda Bock (now Hoggard) to help me get set up.  She created the graphic, chose my font, instructed me on how to save, edit and post. Becky Smith was the mentor whose writing I still emulate.  And my family (much smaller then) cheered loudly, urging me almost daily, "Press the publish button.  Put it out there.  You never know until you try!"

Amazing, isn't it?  How one decision leads to another which then opens the door to possibilities you never could have imagined.  That first year of attempting to always write something of value, humor or encouragement involved a LOT of failure.  But I kept trying and now the "publish" button on my computer is not nearly as scary as it was in 2009.

So, that's looking back.  What's ahead for Embrace the Grace?

I want to become proficient in posting pictures which I believe really add to the quality and experience for you, the reader.  Besides, with NINE adorable grandchildren, I have a bounty of fun pictures to share.  Doubtless one for every topic one might chose to feature.

Also, I've been working the past few months on becoming more consistent again; I want to post more often.  The key lies in not waiting for the lightening bolt thought to hit me, rather writing and hoping the words will be powerful for those reading.

Today, that meant coming home from work and making myself finish this post before anything else, including dinner.  Not glamorous but definitely productive.

So for each of you who have been making time in your hectic lives to read Embrace the Grace, I pray blessings, courage and joy in abundance.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for those who have gone so far as to comment, some even a year later.  Your visits and expressions tell me this blog matters.  And I'm Grateful.

PS:  Last Friday, I had a wild revelation about how big a deal this year really is in my life.  Stop by soon for the full story.  



How about you?  Is there a milestone you're celebrating this year?  Does it cause you to look back and ahead, as well?  We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

Quiet

Normally my posts are filled with the stories that make up life for Frank and me.  Most are humorous.  Many cause tears.  More often they simply create a reminder that life is both rainbows and rain clouds.  We determine which we will make our focus.

Today, I'm taking a cue from my many friends who have found the joys associated with solitude and silence.  (Well, total silence isn't really an option as long as my cell phone stays charged. But the alliteration was too good to pass up.)

Last Thursday morning, I left with five other ladies heading to Daytona Beach for a women's retreat.  There we connected with another friend of our church and moved into a veritable sea composed of 1800 other women from across peninsular Florida.  We had all converged on the Ocean Way Convention Center for the sole purpose of connecting with one another and with God.

GGC Ladies Always have Fun

Those three days were equal parts memory making, marvelous services and a bit of mayhem.  I mean, just think of trying to navigate restaurants or the hotel elevators when almost two thousand other people are moving at about the same time as you.

I would have chosen the hotel stairs a couple times but our room was on the 14th floor.  Perfect for stellar views, all wrong for step counting.  Taking the stairs would have left me needing oxygen I'm sure.  So, our group exercised patience instead and made new friends from other churches while waiting.

Our state women's director, Deanna Shrodes, is an organizing genius.  She kept things moving at a steady clip, kept trouble mitigated, kept women smiling and kept showing up looking like she had never had a problem in all her lovely life.  I know better!  Where there are that many women, there are almost as many problems to solve.  But Deanna and her team handled it all and kept us moving forward like a well-oiled machine.

Our group made the most of our time choosing early mornings and late nights.  One of our ladies had only been to the ocean one other time in her life.  Of course, she had to make time for a long walk on the beach and some wave jumping.  We actually had two birthdays in our small group.  And one lady had just transitioned from being the major care-giver for her 93 year old mother.  We were all looking forward to the time away for different reasons.

We got back to Winter Haven around 5:30 on Saturday and I was at church around 7:30 Sunday morning.  We hosted a baby shower for a precious young couple Sunday following service.  Then I came home, ate a salad and went to bed for a nap.  Deserved and Delicious!

Frank and I ended up talking with several neighbors as we walked Sunday night.  (One even stopped by our house around 8:30.)  By the time this morning dawned, I was ready for Quiet.

Because I work from home on Mondays, I was able to create a quieter than normal atmosphere for myself.  It's been overcast and a bit rainy all day.  Believe you me, I have delighted in it.  Even the phone calls, emails and appointments that needed attention have left me with time to quiet my heart in between.

I've been meditating on a song we sang at the conference. The chorus says, "Way Maker, Miracle Worker, Promise Keeper, Light in the Darkness, My God that is who you are."  Just about any solution you or I may need can be found in one of those.

I've also been pondering a favorite promise from Philippians "His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

Don't you love both of those?  I'll be back with a story soon.  But for this moment, I'm going to enjoy the quiet as much as I've enjoyed the excitement.  I'll lean in to the One I love most and let Him guard my heart and mind with His peace.

Blessings!